From Casino Royale to Spectre: Daniel Craig’s James Bond

The selection of articles presented in this special “James Bond and the Daniel Craig Era” themed issue of Journal of Popular Film and Television explore further the aesthetic, gender, geographical, and geopolitical qualities of Craig’s’ Bond, with due recognition given to both continuity and change. It would be impossible to make sense of the four films in question without acknowledging the enduring role of Judi Dench as the first female head of MI6. As M, Dench’s depiction of Bond’s boss has strongly informed not only the way we think about the agency of women in the franchise but also the complex and multi-faceted relationship that Bond and M have with one another. The intersection of the personal and the professional has contributed greatly to the representation of how Bond and his colleagues accommodate the challenges facing them, and the costs to those often closest to them. The death of M in the final moments of Skyfall exposes Bond’s to yet another painful loss, following the death of his beloved Vesper Lynd. And yet as Spectre depicts, a video handed to Bond by Moneypenny allows a temporary reprieve from overwhelming loss as Bond is able to hear and watch M for the last time.